Vertex (NASDAQ:VERX) Given New $30.00 Price Target at Needham & Company LLC

Key Points

• Needham raised Vertex’s price target to $30 from $20 and maintained a Buy rating, implying 88.44% potential upside from the stock’s current price.
• Analyst views remain mixed: MarketBeat reports a consensus Hold rating and an average price target of $18.50, with six Buy, six Hold, and one Sell rating.
• Vertex beat quarterly estimates, reporting EPS of $0.26 versus $0.22 expected and revenue of $213.28 million versus $209.72 million; revenue grew 11% year over year.

Vertex (NASDAQ:VERX - Get Free Report) had its price target raised by investment analysts at Needham & Company LLC from $20.00 to $30.00 in a report issued on Thursday, Marketbeat.com reports. The firm currently has a "buy" rating on the stock. Needham & Company LLC's price objective points to a potential upside of 88.44% from the company's current price.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently weighed in on the company. Morgan Stanley downgraded Vertex from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and cut their price target for the stock from $19.00 to $15.00 in a research note on Tuesday, July 21st. TD Cowen lowered their price target on Vertex from $16.00 to $15.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, October 13th. Robert W. Baird dropped their price objective on Vertex from $19.00 to $17.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, August 4th. Stephens cut their price objective on shares of Vertex from $20.00 to $18.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, August 4th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Vertex from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Sunday, October 18th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $18.50.

Vertex Trading Up 4.3%

Vertex stock opened at $15.92 on Thursday. Vertex has a 12 month low of $10.21 and a 12 month high of $20.85. The company has a quick ratio of 0.87, a current ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40. The stock has a market cap of $2.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 796.40 and a beta of 0.77. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $13.28 and its 200-day simple moving average is $13.30.

Vertex (NASDAQ:VERX - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 4th. The company reported $0.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.22 by $0.04. Vertex had a return on equity of 29.00% and a net margin of 0.45%. The business had revenue of $213.28 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $209.72 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.17 earnings per share. Vertex's quarterly revenue was up 11.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Vertex will post 0.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Vertex

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in VERX. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund acquired a new position in shares of Vertex during the 1st quarter worth about $37,796,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership boosted its stake in Vertex by 1,906.8% during the 1st quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 935,668 shares of the company's stock valued at $11,125,000 after purchasing an additional 889,042 shares during the period. Renaissance Technologies LLC grew its holdings in Vertex by 8.1% in the 1st quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 290,500 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,454,000 after buying an additional 21,700 shares during the last quarter. North Star Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Vertex in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $2,899,000. Finally, Allianz Asset Management GmbH acquired a new stake in Vertex in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $2,182,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.32% of the company's stock.

Vertex Company Profile

Vertex, Inc is a tax technology company that provides software and services to help businesses manage tax determination, compliance and reporting. Its solutions are designed to support complex transaction tax requirements across sales and use tax, value-added tax, goods and services tax, communications tax, and other indirect taxes.

The company's offerings include cloud-based and enterprise tax software, tax calculation engines, compliance and returns management tools, tax data management, and related professional services.

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